zimfandomcom-20200222-history
Irken
The basic goal of the Irken race is total universal conquest. They mostly attain this feat with the aid of the Massive, the flagship of their military and personal vessel of the Almighty Tallests. The Massive aids in universal domination via a sort of 'final attack' called the Organic Sweep. The Irkens institute the Organic sweep when one of their own, an Invader, has successfully infiltrated and taken over a planet they intend to conquer, in order to let the rest of the universe know that planet is now Irken territory. The rest of the universe that know of the Irkens refer to them as bloodthirsty, tyrannical and dictatorial, which may be true to an extent. However, the Tallest and the Control Brains determine what the Irken population thinks through PAK programming. Considering Irkens bloodthirsty and tyrannical is a matter of perspective, because Irken thoughts are actually programmed. Zim is a Defective; because of an error in his PAK, he is not programmed like other Irkens. He is still extremely militaristic and feels a need to conquer. Therefore it is logical to assume the Irken mindset is focused on universal domination. Irken Morphology : a physically typical Irken, although possibly shorter than average.]] In Irken morphology Irkens have Irken Utility Packs, or PAKs installed into their spines directly after birth. Irkens are physiologically humanoid, with green skin and some insectile traits—primarily the presence of two antennae instead of hair on the head. An Irken's eyes are large, glossy, and of a single color, with no distinct pupil or iris. (See section on Eyes below.) Irkens come in several shades of green; the pigmentation level of the individual appears genetically determined. Irkens are most likely warm-blooded. The reason is that cold-blooded creatures, like lizards, fall asleep in cold temperatures. However, Zim, as seen in The Most Horrible X-mas Ever, was in the snow, and he was wide awake, and even yelling. It is still unknown if Irkens are mammals or something completely different. They are best described as insectoids. Irkens have one super organ in their torso called a Squeedlyspooch which performs most bodily functions. It was first mentioned in the episode Germs and then heavily referenced in the episode Dark Harvest. The only other organ that an Irken has is their brain, as shown in Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy. It is not a very important organ however, because of the Irken's Pak and is also proven in Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy. Irken jaws feature a bizarre structure in place of teeth, consisting of a strip of enamel-equivalent which protrudes slightly from the flesh of the gum and then rises in an even "peg-like" pattern, much like a zipper. Irken tongues are segmented and bear a visual resemblance to earthworms. Irken fingers (two to each hand, plus an opposable thumb) seem to bear claws, though these may be part of the gloves that all Irkens wear as part of their uniform. The Irken Tallest are made more distinctive by having gloves that make them look like they only have two long fingers because of the fact that Zim was wearing some thing similar in Hobo 13. Internal Stucture Irkens have a skeletal structure not unlike those of humans. Dib's X-Scope provides a good internal view of the Irken organs. The known Irken organs are the Squeedly Spooch, heart, and the brain. The Squeedly Spooch is mainly located in the area where the human stomach is. From the X-Scope picture, it appears to be a large jumbled intestine-looking organ that stretches up through the rest of the body. It is a sort of super organ that does the combined duties of many human organs. The smaller organ in the x-scope picture that can be seen poking up behind the Squeedly Spooch is most likely the Irken heart. The Irken heart serves the same purpose as the human heart, in that in pumps blood through the veins. Irkens also have a brain, although without the Pak, the intelligence begins to drain. The Pak, which is almost an organ in itself, is attached to every Irken's spine. Irkens may have square cells, as Zim's computer shows. Irken Skin Irken skin is green in hue, coming in several shades. Irkens also appear susceptible to acne, and Irken pimples appear to be semi-permiable, which would explain how GIR was able to get inside Zim's pimple (Pustulio) in "Rise of the Zitboy". Their pimples have hypnotic powers. Zim appears to be the first Irken to discover the Irken pimple and it's power, seeing as he wasn't familiar with what it actually was. In Lice, Irken skin is also observed to kill and repel lice. The PAK As documented in Rise of the Zitboy, Eric Trueheart's unproduced second-season script The Trial, an Irken PAK provides critical life support to its host, augmenting several mental functions including an Irken's personality and memory. A PAK's Memory Drive contains the Irken's memories, knowledge, skills and highest scores. The Atmospheric Processor allows the Irken to breathe in any known atmosphere. Finally, a Charging Cell provides power to the PAK. An Irken can only live for about 10 minutes when detached from its PAK, with rapidly degrading cognitive function, at which time the Irken will be notified by an additional implanted device called a lifeclock (Rob Hummel's Ten Minutes to Doom script). There may, however, be exceptions to this rule, as throughout the episode Hobo 13, Invader Skoodge is never shown wearing his PAK, though this may have been an error on the part of the cartoonists. The PAK's Memory Drive appears to be the primary brain of an Irken (which may explain why Zim was still able to function, if dazedly, with his brain in his hand at the conclusion of Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy), and because the Irken's personality is stored there permanently, if the PAK is applied to a new host body, the embedded personality will begin to overpower the new host's consciousness (if any). When Dib accidentally had Zim's PAK bonded to him in 10 Minutes of Doom, he shortly began to speak and act like Zim himself. The PAK attaches to the Irken by means of two spinal plugs or ports embedded in the Irken's back, visible outside their clothing. Two thick cables attach the PAK into its ports. Despite this, an Irken's pak is removable: Dib knocks it off by accident in the 10 Minutes to Doom script, and Zim is seen working on it himself in NanoZim. Also note that the PAK can only function well in Irken species. Zim has said that if Dib had worn the PAK for a little longer, it would have killed him. The PAK also stores an endless variety of tools and robotic accessories. Most often seen accessories are long extendable spider legs that allow an Irken to move about on walls, ceilings, and in zero-gravity; the spider legs can fire laser-like weapons from their tips, and generate a force field for protection. Other items seen in use include communication devices, space helmets, a weak jet system for use in zero gravity and an organ-harvesting teleporter, though the teleporter may have other functions. Eyes The insect-like presences of antennae as well as the lack of an iris, pupil and sclera suggest that the Irkens have compound eyes. However, this has not been made clear by the series creator. For instance, when Zim has his disguise on, the "eyes" act very normal, suggesting that Irken eyes rotate and can produce tears. They also seem to be sensitive to irritants: in The Nightmare Begins, Zim seems very agitated by his new contact lenses, complaining that they "are all scratchy" while desperately rubbing at his eyes. Also, in the episode Planet Jackers Zim actually loses an eye for a few seconds; we see that it is like an oblong sphere in shape and attached to a long, thin cord of sinew and muscle, which might be the equivalent of the optic nerve. As Zim simply replaces his eye by pushing it back into its socket a moment later with no signs of distress or loss of function, it could also be theorized that the Irken eye is an artificial implant of an unknown nature; an unaired episode, Day of da Spookies, implied as much; yet, in a flashback scene in the episode Parent Teacher Night which apparently shows Zim's "birth", he clearly has eyes in his head, even before his PAK is attached. It is also noteworthy that in the episode Walk of Doom, Zim mentions having ocular implants which are standard issue for all Irken Invaders; in the same episode, Zim temporarily blinds himself by staring too long at the Earth's sun, causing a charred effect over his eyes. He waits about 8 hours for their "skin" to grow back, thus restoring his sight. Also, in Rise of the Zit Boy, Zim implies that he believes eyes to be the organ of respiration for humans, although he may simply be confusing human anatomy with his own or said it to distract Dib. The majority of Irkens have red, green or purple eyes with red being the most common, followed by purple. An extremely uncommon Irken eye-color was seen in the official design boards for the unused character Invader Dookie. Dookie was shown to have pale brown eyes. A similar eye color was seen on a what appears to be an adviser to the Tallest in Battle of the Planets. Genders and Reproduction Irkens apparently have female and male sexes. The number of males seen on Irk appears to be more than double that of females, although this may simply be only what is seen in the episodes themselves. Irken babies, or "Smeets", are produced in cloning facilities, which are located deep beneath the surface of Irk. The Smeets are decanted from a fetus jar by "cold, unfeeling" robot arms. It is generally assumed that Irkens have since lost the ability to reproduce sexually due to their bizarre dependence/symbiosis with technology (or to allow the leaders better control). Female Irkens appear to have different shaped antennae from the males (slightly curled), and more pronounced eyelashes. It is hard to tell whether they are on average shorter than the males, as there are so few for comparison. It is notable that there has been one known female Tallest, Tallest Miyuki (who was, incidentally, the earliest known Tallest). The only female Irkens seen in the show are Tak (although her status as having failed to achieve a natural status in the Irken civilization, combined with her customized equipment, means that one cannot immediately select her as an example of a typical Irken female), and Invader Tenn, seen only briefly in the episode "Megadoomer." She seems to be a capable invader, only hindered by malfunctioning SIR units. She also has pink eyes, and bears a striking resemblance to Zim, but her height is hard to determine. Weaknesses There are suggestions that the Irken body is much weaker than the human body genetically. When exposed to identical infusions of bologna-based DNA, Zim notes that the mutation effect occurs much faster in his own cells than within Dib's. Most food, especially from the “skool”, creates burns when touched and causes illness when consumed by Zim. It is not clear if his intensely allergic reactions to Earth food are more related to Irken biology or because, in the time frame of Invader Zim, the Earth appears to be severely polluted as evidenced by the red sky shown in most episodes. In The Frycook What Came from All That Space, he picked up a bag containing a jumbo order of "vort-dogs" and nothing happened, either because there was a bag around them or the food was Irken meat. (See also below section on Irken Diet.) Irkens generally burn on contact with water and Earth meat-based protein, but water's lethality is slightly in question due to the fact that in several episodes, such as Attack of the Saucer Morons, Zim is dunked in liquid without any apparent ill effect. In The Wettening, Zim actually manages to protect himself from water by coating himself in paste. A theory also exists that certain chemical reactions may prevent water from causing harm to the Irkens. It is also possible that not water itself, but the impurities in it which causes problems to Irkens, due to a heavy pollution of the Earth. This is supported by a statement from the series creator, saying that Zim is immune to Earth water, but not to the debris in it. The antennae may be extremely sensitive, as Zim often seems to avoid touching them when placing on headgear. Since they do not have ears, the antennae might be auditory receivers, and when touched produce a loud sound; other theories suggest they might detect smells, or that they are almost like nerve endings and touching them hurts. However, there have been multiple times where they have been pulled on (specifically in Attack of the Saucer Morons, by GIR, and Megadoomer, by Zim himself) with no negative reaction. One time, though, Zim does use his antennae, in Battle of the Planets, Zim's antennae perk up and bend when Mercury is directly behind him, before he even notices the planet is there himself. This implies that Irkens sense vibrations with their antennae. An over-exposure to fatty acids and oils result in horrific acne with apparent hypnotic abilities. These overgrown transparent pimples eventually swell to grotesque sizes and burst, erupting in sticky greenish liquid. Once every thousand years, during a galactic eclipse where all galaxies align, all aliens (including Irkens) not living on their own planet go through a few disturbing minutes of deformity called the Molt, as seen in the episode Career Day. During the hours leading up to the Molt, the Irken's skin bubbles and froths; at the actual moment of the Molt, everything will seem to return to normal for a moment before the skin and flesh explode into a horrible mass of pulsating ooze, which lasts for a minute or so. One of the Irkens' biggest weaknesses is their incapability of disguising themselves well. This can most likely be blamed on a lack of proper disguise technology, as well as their own vanity. The vanity is apparent in The Nightmare Begins, as Zim is picking his disguise. He goes through two good disguises, but hates them, declaring them to be too ugly and too stinky. GIR's costume also turned out terribly when he was put into the Voot Cruiser's disguise chamber, despite the original disguise being believable. This would imply that the Voot's disguise chamber was faulty or just didn't have the proper technology. Also, the Irkens' lack of decent disguises is also shown by Invader Flobee in "Planet Jackers". Compared to other Invaders, Zim's disguise is actually moderately good. However, in Tak: The Hideous New Girl, Tak's disguise is almost completely perfect, (with the exception of having only three fingers) so that it even fools Dib. Whether this reveals that Tak is smarter than the average Irken or not is unknown. Language 'Irken' is also the name of the Irkens' language. It is perceived to the listener as their own native language, therefore has never been documented in its original Irken sounds. Although it is possible that the common language of the Invader Zim universe is English, since Dib had heard the transmission of Operation Impending Doom II from planet Conventia and was able to perfectly understand it, and in turn he was understood by the Tallest when he made a transmission to them from Zim's own base in The Frycook What Came from All That Space. The written form of Irken consists of a series of indistinguishable characters in the show. The show's creator had no Irken character chart in mind when he had Irken letters appear on screens and the opening sequence of the show. The Irken subtitles on the DVDs and the show itself had totally different characters. The ones on the subtitles consist of the first 20 letters of the alphabet (A-T). The rest of the letters have apparently not been developed, leading to controversy as to whether it is the true language at all; it is however possible that the remaining sounds (U, V,W, X,Y, Z) either do not exist, or do not need separate letters in their alphabet, as most of their sounds can be achieved with other letters. Because there is no letter for Z, the main character's name is spelled IM on the DVD subtitles. One possible explanation is that a Z sound is automatically added before any word that begins with a vowel, but this is mere conjecture as there is presently not evidence enough to check against this. Another possibility might be that the correct spelling of ZIM in the Irken language is actually SIM. In the episode Bestest Friend, when Zim draws the picture of him and Keef, he spells Freinds with a Z instead of a S (Freindz). The only evidence for the actual sounds of the Irken language are the names of the Irken characters, and what was shown in the episode "Mysterious Mysteries", where Dib recorded a video of Zim and GIR talking in some alien dialect (a series of grunting and growling) while out of their disguises. It is notable that Zim, when pronouncing his own name, seems to frequently pronounce it zîm, with a somewhat rounded I, and not the more common zĭm, especially when he is alone or talking to himself. If this is done intentionally by the voice actor, it may be an indication of native Irken pronunciation of that vowel -- the pronunciation of the I's in Miyuki and Dookie are likewise similar, as is the sound of the double-E in Spleen. Double-O would appear to represent an ōō in sound, as in Dookie and Skoodge, thus perhaps the lack of need for a letter U in their alphabet. The Irken language does seem to accept multiple consonants side by side. Following is a list, by no means complete, of Irken names: Bob, Dookie, Flobee, Gashloog, Larb, Miyuki, Sizz-lorr, Skoodge, Skutch, Slacks, Spleen, Spork, Stink, Tak, Tenn, Zee, Zim The names Miyuki, Skutch and Zim all contain letters that appear to not exist in Irken. Miyuki could theoretically be spelled Miooki to achieve the same pronunciation, and a theory on Zim's name can be found above. Skutch might be perhaps Skatch or Sktch; it also could possibly be a variant and/or related name to Skoodge, just as English Mary and Marie are variants on the same name. It is also possible that these names are not native to the Irken language. Since very little is known about Irken naming practices, nothing can be said with any certainty. It is notable that Irkens do have a diminutive attachment for names in their language, as evidenced in Hobo 13 when Tallest Purple addresses Table-Headed Service Drone Bob as "Bobby." Other evidence for the vocabulary and sentence structure of Irken might perhaps be found in Zim's sometimes odd turns of phrase. (i.e. "arm-control nerve", "noise-tube", "cleansing-chalk" et al.) It is possible that he is using what might be correct terms in Irken, but which translate badly into English, or it could be due to his questionable sanity. It should be noted though, that after calling it cleansing-chalk, Zim did correctly call it soap in his next line. However, a small note is that Irkens themselves sometimes use similar descriptive wording for names ("Megadoomer", "The Massive", "The Tallest", "Operation; Impending Doom", et al) so it may indeed be the correct terms in their language. It is also notable that Zim is capable of mistranslating English himself at times, as in Tak: the Hideous New Girl where Dib accuses Zim of being jealous, which Zim apparently interprets to mean jelly ("This has nothing to do with jelly!"). It is, however, certainly possible that Zim was simply not paying attention, as he is known to do. Diet Irkens are allergic to water, though there are some continuity troubles with the matter on the show (though they might actually be allergic to the toxins found in polluted earth water, confirmed by Jhonen Vasquez himself in the commentary for The Wettening). Nevertheless, most episodes show Zim suffering pain from contact with water, and it was even the subject of an episode, The Wettening. Zim is made easily sick by virtually all Earth food, and the water content may be the cause of this. However, in the episode The Frycook What Came from All That Space, when Zim crashes to the Earth after a cab he stole exploded, he lay unconcious on the ground until a woman next door sprayed him with a hose with no ill effects. Additionally, she also saw Zim out of disguise as well. This isn't a certainty that Irkens aren't water intolerant, because in a previous episode, The Wettening, Zim figured out that regular "skool" glue can make him immune to the effects of water, and so could most likely just be coated in paste at that moment. Irkens do have beverages on their home planet, but these are almost certainly made from some other liquid substance. "Snacks" like donuts, potato chips, cookies and candy appear to be the favorite foods of Irkens, and by all outward appearances these foods are made the same on Irk as they are on Earth. This would suggest that carbohydrates are the main fuel for the Irken metabolism, although an Earthly carbohydrate would contain a certain degree of water. In Zim Eats Waffles, Zim tries to build up an immunity to Earth food by eating waffles cooked by GIR. Nevertheless, according to the show's creators, they were made with Irken ingredients, hence his ability to keep them down, at least for a while; the causes of the eventual sickness are explained in the episode. However this is disputable, as GIR mentions the waffles were made only with Earth-native peanuts and soap, and that these would make both humans and Irkens sick, inducing such symptoms as vomiting and coughing up soap bubbles. All evidence has so far shown that meats react badly with Irken skin, creating burns and, in more severe cases, swelling; it is sensible to think the same would happen to their insides were the substance consumed. Although in the episode Germs Zim covers himself in meat so germs woud not come near him at the end of the episode and nothing bad happened, and in the episode Battle of the Planets the Tallest laughed remembering that the meat ended up fusing to Zim's body (which never showed) which could cause some allergic reaction to Zim only. In addition, the meat that Zim covered himself with in Germs is explained in the episode by a McMeaty's employee to be synthetic "space meat" made of paper napkins instead of actual meat. Irken society The Irken Empire is a height-based social hierarchy, with the leaders being the tallest of all living Irkens. The Tallest presumably did more work in the past, however the current Tallest, Red and Purple, (named for the color of their eyes and uniforms) tend to just eat snacks, give orders to their subjects, and generally just be lazy. We know little concerning their predecessors, consecutively Almighty Tallest Miyuki (a female Tallest, devoured by a creature of Zim's making) and Almighty Tallest Spork (devoured by that same creature later). The current Tallest are more like figureheads than actual rulers, and the Irkens seem to rely on powerful supercomputers referred to as "Control Brains" to make their more critical decisions, as well as to reproduce more "Smeets" (very young Irkens) and choose their careers. The Control Brains carry all knowledge and memories acquired by Irkens through the recycling of Irken PAKs. Irken society has several rankings, each one given to an Irken dependant on previous actions and/or height. Some of these ranks include: servant, food service drones, invaders, diplomats, those who aide the Tallest, and the Tallest themselves. It is theorised that, as the Irkens are a warlike race, they were once ruled by lords with the support of the strongest soldiers. The Tallest and their invaders in modern Irken culture might be the control brains' adaption of this heirarchy. Despite the vast social classes, Irken culture is known to be quite forgiving and honest. For instance, Zim was allowed to participate in Operation Impending Doom I after causing two global blackouts, even being put in the main cockpit of an Irken mecha. Later, despite Zim's blunders, he was banished to Foodcourtia instead of being executed, and after interrupting The Great Assigning, was exiled to Earth, despite killing countless Irkens. Additionally, the Almighty Tallest honestly referred to the items in a gift shop as being "cheap, useless stuff", showing the open nature of Irken society. Next, when Dib confronted Zim in The Nightmare Begins, Zim immediately admitted to being an alien, not trying to disguise himself at all. Lastly, in 10 Minutes to Doom, Zim announced to Dib the importance of his PAK, even when this endangered his survival even more. Almighty Tallest The Tallest of the Irkens are made leaders of the empire. They host major events such as the Great Assigning and the Planetary Sweeps, but they usually just get pampered. The current Tallest, Red and Purple, spend most of their time eating snacks, but previous Tallest were most likely more productive. The Tallest looses his or her position as the leader of the empire when another Irken gets taller than them or they die. Former Tallest Miyuki accidentally died at the hands of Zim's creation (a giant blob). Later, Tallest Spork died due to the same beast. When Spork died, Red and Purple were still too small to be Tallest, so it is unknown who else was Tallest before them. Red and Purple are both Tallest because they are exactly the same height. Red and Purple have custom colorized suits that match their eye color. The Tallest have hover belts equipped in their suits, allowing them to float around. The Tallest also have only 2 fingers. It is apparently cut off in a ritual to become the Tallest, in order to show that they can rule the Empire with only two fingers (this was apparently stated by the Zim crew). Invader A prestigious branch of the Irken Elite, only a few of the best soldiers are chosen to become Invaders. They are an important part of galactic conquest, as they serve as scouts to spy on an enemy planet. They blend in with the natives of that planet and collect data (with the help of a SIR unit) on how it would be best to conquer that planet. Once the planet is weakened, they call in for the Irken Armada to finish off the job and claim the planet as Irken territory. Royal Guard A special unit of Irken Guards remains at the disposal of The Tallest. They wear a special jet pack to give them an aerial advantage. They perform dirty work for The Tallest, such as throwing an unwanted Irken out of the airlocks, and would be the ones to defend the Tallest should they be in danger. Irken Elite Irken Military plays an important role in the Irken Empire, since they are so bent on galactic domination. A huge portion of the Irkens are involved in the military. After years under the surface of Irk training for the military, Irkens who want to become a member of specialized elite soldiers must pass a series of tests on the military training planet Devastis. A select few of the elite can go on to become invaders, one of the most respected positions in the Irken Empire. Another division in the Irken Elite is the Planetary Conversion Team, which is simply a unit of the Irken Army that participates in changing a conquered planet into an Irken planet. Slave Driver Irken Slave Drivers are heavily equipped Irkens stationed on conquered planets there to keep things ordered. They prevent uprisings from the enslaved citizens of that planet with the help of their trusty tazor staffs. A slave driver on the Conveyor Belt Planet prevented an uprising that Smikka Smikka Smoodoo of the Screw Heads tried to start. Janitorial Drone The only example of a Janitorial Drone is Tak. When Tak missed her exam to become a member of the Irken elite, she was placed on the Janitorial Squad until she would be allowed to take the test again. Fry Lord Frylord is a higher position in the realm of Irken food service. Sizz-Lorr is the Frylord of the Shloogorgh fast food restaurant. His immense size probably means that the job is a respectable one in the eyes of the Empire. Snacking is an important part of Irken culture, and thusly a fast-food manager may be a position not unlike a high priest. On the other hand, Sizz-Lorr may be considered a threat to the Almighty Tallest due to his huge size. If the Tallest were intimidated by him, they could've been responsible for sending him to the planet Foodcourtia, where he would be forced to serve the "inferior" life of the Universe. Fast-food worker Food Service is another area Irkens can work in. Zim was re-encoded as a food service drone due to his destruction in Operation Impending Doom. He worked as a slave, but others, like Gashloog, get paid for their work. If Frylords (as stated above) are high priests, that would make these fast food drones monks Table-Headed Service Drone Some Irkens are forced to do work for practically nothing. These are the service drones, who are probably engineered specifically to do work or are Irkens who were demoted from their original purpose due to error. Table headed Service Drone Bob is an example of a drone. Bob serves drinks on a table strapped to his head. He only makes 5 monies every 2 years. Advisors The Almighty Tallest have their own personal assistants. They inform The Tallest on any important information that might come up. They presumably serve as a sort of council to the Tallest. They also have their PAKs on their chests instead of on their backs. Control Brains Control Brains are special Irkens bred for decision making. They are designated to certain areas, such as a planet, and they do the major decision making for that area. Control Brains are comprised of the consciousness of all Irken Ancestors. Control Brains also have the ability to access the Memory Drives in Irken Paks, which comes in handy when making decisions relating to specific Irkens. The Control Brains who judged Zim on planet Judgmentia in the cancelled episode The Trial have a much more sinister design. They were driven insane by Zim's memories. Technicians and Communications Officers Technicians and Communications Officers manage equipment for the Empire. Teams of technicians serve onboard vehicles to keep them running, such as Frontline Battle Mechs and The Massive Irken Security During large Irken events such as the Great Assigning, Irken Security monitors the crowds. Some Irken Security scans passing Irkens with x-rays (in much the same way as airport security on our planet) while other Irken Security flies above crowds on hover vehicles. Irkens enslave other alien species, partially evidenced by a segment early in the episode "Megadoomer." In some instances subjugation or even contractual employment seem apparent, although mass genocide and extermination of some alien species (like the Slaughtering Rat People) is also seen. There are low-ranking (i.e. very short) Irkens, regarded as servants or even slaves, which are given menial and degrading tasks, such as food service and cleaning. Such servants may be paid as little as five "monies" every two years, as seen in the episode Hobo 13. Currency The official currency of Irk is the Monie. The Monies are coins (apparently a copper-like material) with a picture of the current Tallest on it. The value of a Monie compared to a dollar is unclear. Despite Irkens' apparent devotion to conquering other planets, they have been known to make treaties with certain races, such as the Planet Jackers. Lifespan Irkens appear to have a long lifespan. The length of Irken years compared to Earth years is unknown, however. According to Jhonen Vasquez, Zim is simply older than any human alive, but according to Tak, he's at least 50+ years old. Zim himself states that: "I've (Zim) been flying ships since before you (Dib) were born." Since Irken minds are programmed, there exists the possibility of Defectives. The Defectives that are discovered undergo an “Existence Evaluation” trial where Control Brains decided if the Irken is Defective and therefore a threat to the Irken gene pool. If the trial fails its PAK will be forcibly removed, the Irken will die and its PAK will not be re-assimilated by the Control Brains. A perfect example of a Defective is the main character himself. See Also * Irken Invaders * Irken Society * Irken technology * Written Irken Language * Irken Biology * Smeet References Category:Species